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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23741995">Nine.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LavenderScript/pseuds/LavenderScript'>LavenderScript</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Durarara!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Animal Transformation, Cat Puns, Demon Deals, Fluff and Angst, Multi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-03 01:48:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,567</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23741995</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LavenderScript/pseuds/LavenderScript</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Delic, a black cat, gets his paw stuck in a fence. After Hibiya helps him, the cat desires to remain by his side. A stranger offers the cat a magical deal that will allow him to become a human, if certain conditions are met.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Delic/Hibiya (Durarara!!)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Nine.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>‘Bad Luck’ must’ve been his name. The humans would introduce him as such:</p><p>“Bad Luck, Bad Luck.”</p><p>“A black cat! You know that’s Bad Luck!”</p><p>“Careful, that’s Bad Luck.”</p><p>It must’ve been his charming personality or his soft, silken hair which mushroomed his popularity, but being so lovable, Bad Luck understood that envy would sometimes squeeze the insanity out of others. Jealousy made humans spit on faces, slit throats, and break hearts.</p><p>Bad Luck didn’t mean to get his paw trapped in a lattice fence, but accidents happen. There had been a fluffy feather floating through air, which of course he chased after, but when it had pirouetted through the fence, he continued to swat at it, reaching as far as he could through the holes in the pattern. He’s made worse mistakes, but…</p><p>...with that aforementioned jealousy, he was worried one of his enemies would find him in this compromising position. </p><p>“Fucking black cat,” he remembered hearing once– right before being kicked against brick wall. A liquid which smelt of iron came from the crown of his head and there were psychedelic colors dappling in his vision, but before he could regain his balance, he felt something pierce his side, once– twice– before he forced his legs to grant him escape. Shards of glass fell out of his side as he ran, but he knew he couldn’t stop until he found somewhere safe– somewhere warm, if he were lucky. <em>Sucks</em>, Bad Luck thought to himself, <em>I didn’t get to finish the tuna. Whatever, I ate yesterday. Or was it the day before yesterday?</em></p><p>“May I assist you?” — a voice twined with honeysuckle disrupted his memory. Out of reflex, Bad Luck hissed, but immediately regretted it when he saw the owner of the voice and his golden eyes– eyes he could very well stargaze into. “I do not wish to harm you,” the golden-eyed male reassured before reaching into his black satchel. Bad Luck imagined scissors– maggots– rocks to be thrown at him, but instead… </p><p>Tuna? His nose caught a whiff of it before his eyes were able lay upon the piece of fish. The golden-eyed male had lifted the tuna off of a piece of rice before offering it on an open palm. The male must’ve noticed Bad Luck’s hesitation because he smiled kind-heartedly and whispered as if it were a sweet-nothing: “Tis fine, please accept it.”</p><p>Bad Luck, with widened eyes, allowed his hungry tummy to take over. With every nibble, his taste buds tripped-the-light-fantastic. The human could probably feel his eagerness, for he laughed lightly to himself. That sound distracted Bad Luck from the food for a second and he meowed to voice his contentment before consuming the final piece. </p><p>After continuing to lick the golden-eyed male’s hand as a sign of his affection, said male introduced his other hand to the back of Bad Luck’s head, petting it softly. It felt nice, too nice, he didn’t notice he had begun purring.</p><p>“Hopefully now that we have established a good rapport, you shall allow me to assist you.” The petting behind his head paused, as the hand tasked itself with loosening the latticework of the fence. With just enough space pried apart, Bad Luck was able to remove his paw from the fence, but he did so carelessly — a habit of his — and accidentally cut himself with a particularly pointy piece of splintered wood. </p><p>While he was ready to shrug it off, the human seemed to panic– turning paler, muttering <em>oh, dear</em> to himself, and pulling a handkerchief from his bag. </p><p>“My apologies, Monsieur Cat,” he said while tying the cloth around Bad Luck’s small wrist. Bad Luck immediately pawed at the cream-colored thing. It was almost as silky as his hair. Almost. On the corner of the handkerchief, he noticed a different texture — something was embroidered in golden swirls. Gibberish to him, but the human traced the outline with a delicate finger. “H. O.” When Bad Luck tilted his head in confusion, the human clarified: “Those letters are my initials. My name is Hibiya Orihara and it is my utmost pleasure to meet you.”</p><p>“Meow,” Bad Luck replied — at which Hibiya laughed again. Bad Luck took notice of the way he covered his laugh with the back of his hand, the crinkles in the corner of his eyes as he smiled, and the glimmer of happiness in his starlike eyes. It filled him with an unfamiliar feeling.</p><p>“I am afraid I cannot linger any longer,” Hibiya began, “I cannot afford to be tardy, but I shall leave you with this.” With precise, graceful movements, he pulled more pieces of tuna off of balls of rice, placing them on a napkin in front of Bad Luck. “Eat well and mind your safety.” At that, Hibiya stood up and began to walk away. Bad Luck grabbed a piece of tuna with his mouth and padded after him. </p><p>“No, no, you cannot follow me.”</p><p>“Meow,” Bad Luck countered.</p><p>“You make a compelling argument, however, I must insist you remain here.”</p><p>Bad Luck meowed more stubbornly, which made Hibiya sigh. “Surely, you do not understand me, though I promise to return in eight hours, if you wait for me.”</p><p>“Meow,” Bad Luck agreed, happy with something– someone to look forward to. <em>His presence makes me feel light and fluffy</em>, he thought to himself, chewing on the tuna.</p><p>“You are rather adorable,” Hibiya chuckled again, as he leaned down to leave him with a final head scratch. <em>He thinks I’m adorable!</em> While Bad Luck could not blush, he mewed and pawed at his own ear shyly. “Farewell, delic–” Hibiya began, but could not finish, as a limousine pulled up next to him. The golden-eyed male gulped with an expression similar to guilt, rising up and brushing dust off his knees before entering the vehicle. </p><p>It took off more quickly than Bad Luck was able to follow. A sad meow escaped from him, as he attempted to recall the male’s last words: ‘Farewell, Delic.’ Bad Luck was not sure what that meant — (as Hibiya had been cut off before he could finish saying ‘delicate thing’) — but it sounded honeyed and comfy-cozy coming from Hibiya’s mouth. Did Hibiya perhaps… rename him? <em>I like Delic better</em>, the cat decided, rolling onto his back and imagining Hibiya tickling his stomach while feeding him more of that delicious tuna– <em>The tuna!</em> Delic remembered, bounding over to it while licking his lips happily, but…</p><p>...before he could nom on any more, a hand scooped him up — one less careful, more calloused than Hibiya’s. Delic writhed around uncomfortably, chasting himself for not noticing. The happiness he felt from Hibiya’s presence had dulled his instincts– his reflexes from having lived on desperate streets. </p><p>While hissing and clawing at the hand, he heard a voice.</p><p>“Oh, calm now, kitty.” The affectionate words were laced with barbed-wire. “I have a proposal to offer you.” Delic continued to scratch– bite– twist– draw blood– until the hand maneuvered to the back of his neck to hold him as if he were in a noose. Delic scratched at air before the voice caught his attention with its next words:</p><p>“You’d like to see Hibiya again, right?”</p><p>“...Meow.” Delic answered, unsure of this person. His appearance proved similar to Hibiya’s, though he was older — and his eyes were brown, but seemed to glint red.</p><p>“Haha! Aren’t you a smarty-cat?” Delic found himself growling lowly, perceiving this being as a threat, if his condescending tone were any indication. “I could toss you into the river and no-one would even care. Hibiya would forget about you, too.” Before Delic could swipe at him again, the man added, “However! If you were a human, that would change.” <em>What kind of psycho-nutso is this guy?</em> Delic frowned as much as a cat could, which the stranger laughed at, holding his own stomach as if Delic were so funny, his organs were failing him. </p><p>“Listen, kitty-cat. I can make you a human, but there are a few catches: You have two weeks to make Hibiya kiss you of his own free will. If he doesn’t, well, you become a cat again. That one’s pretty simple, right?”</p><p>Delic didn’t feel like being bullshitted anymore, so he scrunched his shoulders and thrashed wildly to escape from the grasp of the red-eyed demon. Once he landed on his feet — as cats tended to — he scurried off, lamenting the loss of the tuna Hibiya had left for him. </p><p>“I’ll interpret that as a yes!” The man called after him. “After a cat-nap, you’ll be a human. Oh, and if you tell Hibiya about this deal of ours, you’ll turn back into a cat! Don’t forget–”</p><p>Delic ignored the other things the man shouted as he turned into an alleyway. It was damp and moldy, but it was away from danger. His hairs weren’t as raised and his ears didn’t pick up on any movement, so he surrendered himself to his thoughts. <em>What a crazy interaction</em>. As he padded along the dark, cold floor, Delic found that he didn’t mind the environment too much when he happened upon a cardboard box. </p><p>After cozying himself inside of it, he nuzzled the handkerchief which smelt of chamomile and old libraries. He daydreamt of Hibiya petting him– calling him ‘adorable’ again– the two of them cuddling in soft blankets… </p><p>...not realizing he had dozed off.</p>
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